[physicsguy]

This is only worth paying attention to if developers are your final audience. So the products he mentions - Auth0, Twillio, Docker, great, this strategy is applicable. But if it’s something that the API is available but isn’t the product then spending lots of time on DevRel is wasted.

In the medium term, I expect developer focused startups to become less and less funded. Higher interest rates mean the landscape is very different and profitability is much more important much earlier.

[mcdow]

Do you think developer focused startups are not profitable? Or do you think they aren't profitable without scale? And why?

[physicsguy]

No, I don't, but I think they're often riskier than a similar sized startup targeting broader B2B customers. The reason for that is that the charging model is often month-to-month or short term contracts (yearly renewal), the products are often something you can do without or can switch to a competitor easily (i.e. there's not much differentiation). It can be very easy for a competitor to come about and knock you off a peg very quickly. In addition, the 'nice to have' dev focused startups are things that can be easily cancelled with not that much of an effect on the bottom line of another business. Many dev-focused startups have their business with other startups primarily, so where there's a recession that might knock some of those out of business it can be fatal to your company if you're reliant on them for revenue.